The Bat Aftermath of The Truth About Flash
by Starrynyte04
Summary: What happened when the Bats returned home? Ties into THE TRUTH ABOUT FLASH during chapter 52.


**AN: **This story is a tie-in with my story **The Truth About Flash. **If you haven't read it, then this might not make the most sense to you.

**DISCLAIMER: **Don't own the Justice League or the Batfamily.

...

The Bats went back to Wayne Manor, even Jason. After arriving in the cave, Dick, Barbara, and Tim changed and headed up stairs.

Jason kept what he had on because he didn't have another set of clothes, or so he thought. Bruce, however, had elected to keep the Batsuit on.

He walked over to the Batcomputer and sat in the chair before it.

"Jason," Batman said as he faced the former Robin. "We need to talk."

At those words, Jason felt an uncomfortable tingle shoot through him. He felt exposed without his mask or helmet.

Batman didn't falter as he spoke to the young man that had his arms crossed protectively in front of him.

"I want you to know that this is Batman speaking and not Bruce Wayne," he said. "You have killed in the past, something that I would normally find unforgivable and have doubts of others' safety in your presence. However, I've come to realize over time that I had a part in driving you to those actions. I was wrong in how I treated you. I thought I knew what you were going through, as I've been tempted to kill in the past, but I was wrong. I didn't know. While I've experienced similar situations as you, I've never felt the same emotions that you did, and it was foolish of me to think that you would handle them as I would have, especially since you did experience an enormous trauma and betrayal. You were always more aggressive, still are, but you know what's right, and you know who and what you fight for."

Batman handed over one of his specialized communicators.

"I've offered you a chance to work with the Batclan before and you turned it down. I understand why you did. I wasn't giving you the chance to act as your own person. I'd have treated you as a soldier again, but now I'm offering it to you without any restrictions or judgments. You're a hero, and you use the tools you've chosen well. Despite my own beliefs, I can't fault you in that area. You may be rougher than necessary, but you stay within the limits, and I'm proud of what you've managed to become."

Jason stared at Batman in a mixture of shock and confusion. Did he just admit he was wrong? Batman never admits he was wrong, and proud of him? What just happened?

Jason stood still for so long, lost in his thoughts that Batman set the communicator down on the computer console between them. He took off his cowl.

"Now, this is me speaking as Bruce." Bruce's dark blue eyes shone with more emotion than Jason had seen in years. "I'm sorry. I failed you, and not just as Batman, we've been through that before, but as Bruce. I failed to give you what you needed," he said sadly in a soft voice. "I promised when I adopted you to be your father, but I never tried to understand you like I should have, and I never told you how much you meant to me. I hurt you and I'm sorry."

Jason stiffened even further and his arms fell to his sides.

Bruce sighed. "I made a lot of mistakes, and I'll probably make more, but I don't want us to continue like we are. I don't want you to hate me. I know it might be too late for some things, but I want you to be part of the family again," he finished.

Bruce let his words sink in before saying, "You don't have to agree to any of this. You can walk away like before, and if you decide to take up one of the offers, you don't have to take up the other. I just…want you to be happy," Bruce said. "It's whatever you want. Just know that you'll always have a home here."

Jason blinked. He swallowed thickly, thinking, trying to sort out his emotions. This is what he had always wanted. Acceptance. That's all. Bruce was offering it to him with no strings attached.

But he'd been so hurt. He'd given everything he had to this man and been left empty.

That doesn't just go away.

If Bruce had offered Jason this a couple years ago, Jason would have told him to go fuck himself, but time had made the wounds heal a bit.

Thanks to all the practice he put in with teaching himself patience and how to keep his emotions in check, Jason was able to keep his mouth shut and his temper from ruining this chance. Instead, he took a deep breath and asked himself what he really wanted.

"I'll have to think about it," Jason said slowly. "I'll be honest for once," Because why the hell not? "I don't know if I could trust you. Not completely," he added. "If it weren't for Wally, I don't think I'd be able to trust anyone."

Bruce took the stabbing words in silence.

"I've gotten better," Jason said with a grin. "I'm still pretty fucked up though. I cuss and like to hit things. I drink and smoke and pick fights with assholes that deserve it. If you can deal with that, then I'm willing to try, but you can't treat me like a kid, and it's going to take time."

Bruce frowned, but nodded. "I guess I'll deal with it. Like you said, it'll take time. I would like it if you stopped smoking though," he said firmly. "I'm not trying to control you, but it is bad for your health. That's all."

Jason thought about it. "I won't smoke in or around the Manor. We'll see about me quitting fully."

Bruce nodded.

"Let's go upstairs. There should be some clothes that'll fit you in the changing rooms," Bruce said, trying to lighten the mood and smiled a bit.

Jason shrugged, changed, and went upstairs to the other Bats. They had already finished filling Alfred in on what happened. Bruce gave his butler a shrewd look that Alfred calmly gazed back to.

No one commented when Bruce remained silent and didn't give any sort of lecture, and they all sat in the kitchen in heavy silence as they ate the meal Alfred had quickly prepared for them.

As soon as Barbara was finished she excused herself and told the four males that she would go home to sleep. She pecked a kiss on Dick's lips and left.

Dick was the first to get up from the table after her and walked slowly to his bedroom where he lied on top of his bed, wanting nothing more than to sleep, but being unable to. He was worried about his friend and felt guilty over what had happened. All he could do was wonder if there had been a way that he could have made everything work out.

In the room next door, Jason was simply sitting on the edge of his bed and staring around his old room like he had for the last hour or so. Nothing about this day seemed real, and here he was, surrounded by the things of his fourteen-year-old self. Everything looked the same. It was like the last five years had never happened.

The sun was just setting, but all the birds and bats were taking the night off in favor of catching up on sleep.

Jason heard a soft knock on his door.

He frowned and called, "Who is it?"

The door opened a bit and Tim stuck his head in cautiously.

Jason frowned and looked away. "What do you want?"

Tim walked in the room and shut the door firmly behind him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them he said, "I'm sorry about how everyone, including me, treated you when you came back, and I'm sorry for fighting with you all the time. I mean that. I never meant to hurt your feelings."

Tim's forehead wrinkled. "That being said, I wanted to give you this."

He lightly tossed a Bat-a-rang that landed on Jason's bed.

Curious, Jason picked it up and studied it. He applied some pressure to the wings and they folded into the body for a sleek look.

"This was mine," Jason muttered. "The one I never found."

Tim nodded. "I know. Dick told me how you were the one that started using spring-loaded bat-a-rangs. I found it one day just after you started as Robin." Tim hesitated. "I worshiped that thing," he said softly.

Jason glanced up at him and looked at the ground. He and Tim were both wearing long pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, though Jason's were all black while Tim's were gray and red.

Tim walked over and sat down next to Jason without looking at him. This was it. He needed to ask before he lost his nerve.

"Do you really hate me?"

Jason looked over at the bird. Damn it! One heart-to-heart today was enough! But after what Bruce just told him, Jason felt compelled to answer.

"No," he said. "I never did. I was just mad and you were the easiest to take it out on."

Tim felt a little relieved at that confession, but it also made him a little resentful. It wasn't his fault everyone had reacted the way they had!

Jason seemed to know what Tim was thinking because he sighed heavily. "Look, Tim. I'm sorry for attacking before. I guess I kind of lost my mind. Part of me kept screaming at me that what I was doing was wrong while the other part was absolutely convinced it was right. I don't think I was really in control of myself for a while. It's hard to explain," Jason said sadly.

Tim nodded anyway.

"I don't want you to die," Jason said suddenly. "I don't want another Robin to die. After that first time, it's why I never really attacked you again. I didn't trust myself, so I stuck to the insults."

Tim's lips twitched. "You know those insults drove me to work harder? When you made fun of me, told me I wasn't worthy by pointing out a flawed move or information I overlooked, I made sure never to make that mistake again."

Jason finally took a good look at him. "You're a good Robin."

Tim's eyebrows rose in disbelief.

"Really," Jason said nodding. "You're a good Robin. Be a little more open to people instead of hiding behind your tech and you'll be great."

Tim nodded again and yawned. He was only fifteen after all, and he been up a full 36 hours.

Without thinking, Tim leaned over so that his head rested on Jason's shoulder. For his part, Jason didn't react at all. It felt natural, like how it always should have been.

He looked up when he felt someone's presence at the door. It was Dick in his own variation of a pajama shirt and pants.

"Hey," he said. "Do you guys really want to sleep alone?"

Jason stared at him blandly. "Not particularly." He knew he'd have nightmares tonight from the remembrance of how he was before Wally fixed him. That is if he slept at all.

Jason looked at Tim, who was blinking slowly. He hauled him up with one of Tim's arms around Jason's shoulders. Together, they stumbled toward the bedroom door Dick held open, and all three of them walked to the end of the hall where the master bedroom was.

It was a common occurrence that if one of them couldn't sleep, for whatever reason, they would seek comfort from the man each of them considered father.

Dick opened the door and slipped in first. Jason nearly hesitated. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done this, but with Tim falling asleep on him, he walked steadily into the room.

The dark curtains were drawn so that no light entered the dark room except that from the hallway. Bruce sat up in his bed. His expression told them all that he really wasn't surprised to see them.

Dick happily did a front flip onto the bed and climbed up on the right side of Bruce. Jason walked over to the left side and tucked Tim into the covers first before making himself comfortable on the edge of the extra-long California King-sized mattress.

Tim instantly fell asleep, but Bruce, Dick, and Jason all kept their eyes wide open.

After what felt like hours, Dick whispered, "Wally is family."

And that just about summed it all up. It was every unbeatable counterargument that he and Jason needed to explain their actions.

To their surprise, Bruce just said, "Yes he is."

While his sons had known Wally longer, Bruce still felt a respect and affection for the speedster, and he didn't like many people. Unknowingly, Wally had been a part of his family for a long time, and if there's one fact about Bruce, it's that he is fiercely protective of his family. Even when Dick had walked away and Jason had come back angry, Bruce had kept an eye on them from the shadows.

_Tim better not give me that much trouble_, Bruce thought blandly. Though with his luck, it was only a matter of time.

Still, Bruce would never lose another family member again, and that included Wally.


End file.
